A stored-value card refers to monetary value stored on a card not in an externally recorded account, while with a prepaid card money is on deposit with an issuer similar to a debit card. That is, the term stored-value card means the funds and or data are physically stored on the card, while with a prepaid card the data is maintained on computers affiliated with the card issuer. Another difference between stored value (SV) cards and prepaid (PP), referred to collectively as SV/PP or electronic payment cards, is that prepaid debit cards are usually issued in the name of individual account holders, while stored value cards are usually anonymous.
Stored Value/Pre-Paid cards allow for anonymous loading of monetary value on these cards by fraudsters through stolen financial instruments and cash at multiple channels or entry points, namely web, mobile, agents and other point of sale mechanisms. Currently all of these channels operate independently and without knowledge of transactional activities on other channels. Electronic payment cards allow for multiple channels of disbursements or exit points, namely physical point of sale locations, web, ATM and mobile.
One problem with electronic payment cards is that fraud perpetrators can avoid detection by loading multiple smaller value stored value/pre-paid cards simultaneously on different channels for entry into the system. In addition, money movement from a compromised entry source to a fraudulent SV/PP card is very rapid. Further, money movement between countries is very easy and rapid, making recapture of fraudulent funds more difficult based on the plurality of regulations and jurisdictions that can apply.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved method for detecting electronic payment card fraud.